Credit: Herald File

In an election that proved every bit the landslide that had been predicted, Martinez was voted today into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. He received 91.1 percent of the vote, easily surpassing the 75-percent requirement and but falling short of Carl Yastrzemski's high-water mark (94.6 percent) for a player enshrined with a Red Sox cap.

"It's a great honor," Martinez said, "and I dedicate it to every fan out there and every teammate I've played for."

Martinez ranks among only 50 players who were elected in their first appearance on the ballot, three of whom are part of the Class of 2015, which will be inducted to the Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 26 in upstate New York.

Randy Johnson, an equally dominant pitcher during an era characterized by artifically inflated offense, was elected with 97.3 percent of the vote in his first time on the ballot. Fellow first-timer John Smoltz, the only pitcher ever to record at least 200 wins and 150 saves, received 82.9 percent of the 549 votes that were cast by veteran members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

And after falling two votes shy last year, longtime Houston Astros great Craig Biggio was elected with 82.7 percent of the vote.

It marks the first time since 1955 that the writers elected more than three players in a single year.

In Boston, of course, the focus is on Martinez, who was at the height of his ridiculous powers during a seven-year stint with the Red Sox that culminated, appropriately, with the 2004 World Series championship.

"Whoever played with Pedro, whoever covered Pedro for a while, you know that this is a guy that being in the Hall of Fame is well-deserved," said Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, Martinez' close friend and former teammate. "We're talking about a player who did it all, on and off the field, the way he was supposed to."

Indeed, from 1998-2004, Martinez was as brilliant as any pitcher we have ever seen. He went 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA and 1,683 strikeouts in 1,383.2 innings for the Red Sox, success that was made all the more impressive considering his career coincided with the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs.

"I did it clean," Martinez said earlier in the day on an interview with MLB Network before expanding on that declaration in a press conference at Fenway Park.

"When I say I did it clean, I did it the only way I knew. I had an opportunity, more than once, I had an everyday opportunity to take the short path to a more successful year and escape the criticism of the media and being singled out as someone that's going to miss two or three outings. Yes, I chose to miss those three outings and not miss the respect that you guys (in the BBWAA) are showing me in the announcement today. And that's what I meant when I said I kept it clean."

Armed with a blazing fastball, a knees-knocking curve and a bat-slowing changeup that might be only the nastiest pitch ever thrown, Martinez ranks third all-time in strikeouts per nine innings (10.04). Among pitchers who have made a minimum of 30 starts over the past 40 years, his 2.93 career ERA ranks second to only Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (2.48).

With Pedro, though, it was always about more than merely the statistics. On the mound, he was fearless, willing to brush back any hitter in order to establish ownership of the inside of the plate. And wherever he went, his intelligence, knowledge and respect for the game served as an example for younger teammates.

"They don't only ask you for numbers (for the Hall of Fame). They ask you for character," Ortiz said. "And Pedro is one of those guys who has been a huge messenger for a lot of guys like myself, and that is very massive. I learned so much from Pedro. People might be like, 'Well, you're a position player and Pedro is a pitcher.' But Pedro is so smart that he can help you at any level, any way, no matter what position you play.

"And as a human being, he's one of the best human beings I have ever been related to, because he's got the patience and he's got the sense to tell you how to do things. That's huge."